"Quid Pro Quo" is a mess, but in a very good way. It features a complicated "Chinatown"-style land grab storyline, leans heavily on things we've learned throughout the season (which is why I made sure to write my Save "Terriers" piece before last week's flashback episode, which was far more accessible to newbies), features Hank's plan going off the rails 16 different ways, and has Britt seeming to change allegiances every five seconds.

By many reasonable standards, it shouldn't work. But it does.

Part of what makes it work is that Hank and Britt are always aware of how far in over their heads they are. As has been established over and over again, they're not brilliant tacticians. They're just two guys with a lot of guts and ample supplies of stubborn, and they're just doing what they can to stay afloat in these deep, murky waters.

Part of the episode's success is that I don't think even Britt entirely knows which side he's on. (Your mileage may vary; Fienberg felt he was playing Zeitlin from the start.) He feels betrayed that Hank didn't tell him about Katie (which violated both the guy code and set Britt up to go to jail for attacking the wrong guy), he's deservedly facing real jail time, he's adrift without Katie, and he doesn't have the personal stake in hating Zeitlin and Burke that Hank does. (Nor, as Hank points out, is he an Ocean Beach resident, so he doesn't care that much if the town gets paved over to put up an airport.) I still think he's 95% on Hank's side and leaving his options open if he can find a solution that helps himself (and Zeitlin) without hurting Hank, but again: deep, murky waters. Similarly, I don't think he'd have ever turned Ashley the lawyer over to Zeitlin if she really was the mole, but he sleeps with her to find out for sure, and also because Britt could really use a rebound night right about now.

And as our heroes spend most of the episode apart and on edge with each other, the water they're in only gets deeper, and eventually winds up claiming both Jason and Laura's real contact. It's another spectacular gut punch from a show that's come to specialize in them - just as we and Hank are finally learning to respect Jason, he gets killed for doing the right thing, and in a way that could forever drive a wedge between Hank and Gretchen - and one of several moments in this episode that led me to write "Oh, this is very, very bad" in my notes.

(And then when Hank pulled the pistol and the shotgun out of the trunk of Freddie's traveling arsenal, I wrote, "Oh, this is very, very badass." There's a fine line.)

I don't want to write too much because so much of the episode is setting things up for the finale, which I've seen (and which is great), but as set-up episodes go, I thought "Quid Pro Quo" was great because it was still so much about the main characters and all the emotional issues they've been dealing with of late.

Some other thoughts:

• Though they've interacted briefly in the past, it was nice to get a prolonged scene of Katie and Gretchen bonding over their dysfunctional exes.

• A mostly dark episode, but I was amused by Freddie being offended by Hank's belated attempt at small talk and - before he turned out to be in Zeitlin's pocket - Councilman Albrecht boasting of how he keeps a powerful stream at his age.

• And speaking of Albrecht, his talk about keeping chains out of Ocean Beach and his love of freedom, independence and iconoclasm made him sound very much like a kindred spirit to the bikers from "Sons of Anarchy." Shawn Ryan and Kurt Sutter are still tight; could SAMCRO set up an Ocean Beach charter?

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Hank should have been suspicious of him the moment he gave him that hug and said something about both of them finally doing something right. How would this guy whom Hank's never met know what kind of a screw up he is?

RWG (plus, he's someone who just would look good proposing a new airport)

Is one of the chains he kept out FedexKinkos? They couldn't stop to make a copy of the plans before they gave up their "only" copy? As a contractor, I work with architects on the regular, and I'm pretty sure those weren't the ONLY plans in existence. Unless they were drawn completely freehand from the memory of a guy that died as soon as he finished....

ange is right, they trusted him because maggie said "he hates zeitlin more than you." i can't see her being so off base with this.

maybe...councilman was just playing a part for those he was meeting with when hank & britt showed up at his office. he really is putting his ass on the line by working with them against zeitlin, after all.

not to mention, those plans of the coastline wouldn't be gone forever. surely there are coastline maps somewhere else, right?

I have to agree. The part where they just hand over the blueprint to Albrecht without hesitation (or given him a photocopy, or a photo proof) was the moment when I thought, Oh shit, this guy is totally in on it.

But otherwise, I wasn't sure about Britt's allegiance at the beginning either (another great cut into the opening song title credits), and I sure didn't expect Jason to be killed (even though I probably should have) - yikes.

But it's great to see such humor still in an otherwise really exciting and intense episode.

The further into the season we go, the more this show reminds me of a darker, more adult, more male Veronica Mars. And this is a very, very, VERY good thing. Tonight's episode was absolutely fantastic, from start to finish. I loved the mess. I loved the characters not really knowing what was going on and having to make decisions on the fly. And Jason, lying dead against the cooler? A punch to the gut like most shows far more developed couldn't even dream of delivering.

I'm totally on board with the Veronica Mars comment and not just because they're set in seaside towns. I could see Vinny Van Lowe making an appearance in Terriers and totally fitting in.
I hope the season finale is as good as the Veronica Mars season 1 finale which was one of the best ever. Love this show.

I haven't seen the season finale, but if it's as good as the previous 12 episodes, it has the potential to be one of the best of the year. I'm dying to hear this show is being renewed. It's one of the only ones I added to my rotation and it's easily become my favorite over the last few months.

I really love how this show has developed over the season. It's too bad the lawyer Brit slept with seems to be just a plot devise. I would have been interested to the show keep her around as his new love interest.

Sure but I was just hoping that this show would drop a likable character like Katie (and I do like her) and pair Britt with someone else. One of the greatest challenges on any show is to find compelling love interests. And usually a show spends it's entire existence justifying one pairing and is never able to shift away from that couple. When Katie had that affair I was fansinated to see if the writers were voluntarily shifting away from a compelling relationship and forging a new one. I like the lawyer girl and their relationship started on a lie just like his relationship with Katie. Anyway it was a small hope of mine.

Am I the only one who doesn't think Katie slept with the professor? They never showed a sex scene with them just Katie waking up the morning after with the "what the hell" look. Plus it would be one hell of a punch in the stomach if they're relationship was ruined by an affair that Katie didn't actually have. Or maybe I'm looking too much into it.

I honestly think that was the best hour of television that I've seen this season. If the setup is this good, I can't wait for the season finale.

The pacing was great. The lighting, the mood - they made the sense of urgency come through. Donal was great in showing his raw anger when Albrecht turned out to be in Zeitlin's pocket. I'm still a bit curious how they found out where Melanie Farris was going to meet Laura Ross and Jason. It couldn't have been Albrecht, though. The only thing I can come up with is that Zeitlin only had 1 or 2 folks that he thought was the mole, and he had them followed the entire time.

Btw, I think you had a typo above. You said

"(Nor, as Hank points out, is he an Ocean Beach resident, so he doesn't care that much if the town gets paved over to put up an airport.)"

I'm pretty sure it was Britt talking to Zeitlin.

I feel like we were supposed to take away that Britt was playing Zeitlin the whole time.

Alan, what's your take on some sort of continuation as of now (if not a renewal, maybe a Damages type of deal)? Also, does the finale do a good enough job to wrap things up if things don't continue?

"I'm still a bit curious how they found out where Melanie Farris was going to meet Laura Ross and Jason. It couldn't have been Albrecht, though. The only thing I can come up with is that Zeitlin only had 1 or 2 folks that he thought was the mole, and he had them followed the entire time."

That's the way I figured it to, but when it became obvious that the gal with whom Britt slept with was already aware that there was a specific meeting place, I started wondering if maybe Hank's car is bugged or Ross's computer emails were intercepted. Everything happened so quickly and then the meeting place gets changed to a liquor store??!!

RWG (nice way to throw the cops offtrack, but seems kinda convenient to me)

Re: "(Nor, as Hank points out, is he an Ocean Beach resident, so he doesn't care that much if the town gets paved over to put up an airport.)"

Alan, Toonsterwu is right. Britt says that about not being a native, so not vested, to Zeitlin when they meet out at the...marina? estuary? wherever. It's his excuse for working against Hank. He doesn't say anything about the airport, though, because he doesn't know about that yet.

This episode was the point at which I reached critical mass. Approximately 5 seconds after the show ended I penned my first "You had better renew this show" letter ever. I didn't do this for Arrested Development. I didn't do this for Deadwood. I didn't do this for Party Down. I didn't do this for Veronica Mars (the show's younger sister) (Sorry Rob Thomas!). I didn't do it for any of the myriad shows that probably deserved my pleas. But now I know why, this show deserved them more.

If this is what they give us for a penultimate ep. I can't wait to see what the finale has in store, and god-willing, next season too.

Don't think that was made clear yet. My guess is before because Hank & Britt's lawyer says that she just discovered that the councilman was an enemy to Zeitlin. I'm guessing Zeitlin's paying him to be an opponent in the public so that that his plans don't seem so predetermined and easy to accomplish.

Britt's attempt to "warn [Ashley], without warning her" was just... bizarre, hilarious, and infuriating. I think I shouted "Britt, you IDIOT!" and laughed at the same time. That was my favorite moment of this bleak, bleak episode.

Yeah, loved that scene. Though finding out that she was also "in on it," along with the city councilman, makes me wonder exactly how all these fools are okay with people getting murdered right and left. If this were an episoe of Law&Order, Ben Stone or McCoy would be whipping out subpeanas and arrest warrants for conspiracy to commit murder to half the people in that law office :-)

Unless I missed something (which is entirely possible), I don't think it was made clear that Ashley is in on any of the murders. As for Albrecht, my first reaction was he's in on it, either because of money or a threat, but then again, I was wrong about Jason. I don't trust my own instincts anymore when it comes to this show.

Fantastic show with a palpable feeling of dread as we neared the conclusion. I really didn't want to go inside the liquor store and I really didn't want to find out who was killed. One of the few times I felt real emotions for fictional characters.

I will add that I don't see how building an airport is such a dastardly plan that I should think it's evil in and of itself. The way Zietlin is going about is dirty, and of course I'm not on board with murder. But the "Oh Noes, Ocean Beach is going to get paved over!" is not getting to me. He's building an airport that the show claims San Diego needs but no one has the political will to build. The good citizens of Ocean Beach will get paid for their land and relocated (at least the ones that Albrecht hasn't killed yet). Their not going to poison them. And it's an airport, not Bad Newz Kennelz. This season is built around NIMBYism?

Dave P, I think the episode's mention of the land being seized by eminent domain suggests that the good citizens of Ocean Beach won't be fairly paid for their land. Regarding how residents feel about their community getting destroyed for progress that may or may not benefit them, I guess you'd have to talk to people who've been through it. I can't think of any instances where communities were relocated either, but that could be simple lack of knowledge on my part.

Having lived in the real Ocean Beach, this show does an amazing job of capturing the feel of the area. (In real life, it's simply a neighborhood of San Diego, not an independent city or town)

I loved the way that the councilman bragged about keeping Starbucks out of Ocean Beach. In the real Ocean Beach, Starbucks fought city council and won to open up a location about 10 years ago. People still to this day drive by and yell "Get out of Ocean Beach!"

People from OB have a fierce pride of being from there, just as they portray on the show. In real life, San Diego has been trying to move the existing airport for decades as it sits on prime land next to the marina and downtown. The plot on Terriers to covertly move it to a less valuable piece of land fits almost perfectly within real San Diego / Ocean Beach politics.

They are doing a really good job on this one. Shawn Ryan must be from Ocean Beach.

This episode didn't really work for me as a STANDALONE piece. Far too much of the "Is this (a) evil or (b) good or (c) good pretending to be evil, or (d) evil pretending to be good or (e) good pretending to be evil pretending to be good, or...?" stuff. It seems clever when you're watching it, but it turns into incoherence when you try to go over it carefully after the fact.

(GODFATHER II has the same problem in points-- you're not sure when Michael is being serious or when he's faking out, or if he was honestly taken in but then figured it out.)

But since it's so clearly Part One of a two-parter-- and this show has been so good about resolving things cleverly-- often delivering a lot more than you expected-- during the season, I'm more than willing to wait a week to see how they finish this.

Two things I would be disappointed by:

1. If Britt's hookup turns out to nothing more than an "evil bitch in disguise". This is the sort of reverse that both 24 and THE GOOD WIFE pull-- usually involving some major cheat. This show doesn't normally pull this stuff, so it would be disappointing if it did.

Of course if it turns out she called Zetiln in a mortal panic-- and either (a) she tells him who the mole is or (b) he had two top suspects and he concluded that she wasn't it-- that would be brutal but fair.

2. It would be even worse if the councilman turns out to be evil. It would mean that Maggie is either really stupid (she sent them for help to one of Zeitlin's men) or (much, much worse) she's one of Zeitlin's people and she set them up.

There is a third possibility-- she knew they were walking into a trap but sent them as a ploy to either free Britt up or set up Zeitlin. I've seen defense attorneys throw people under a bus in order to achieve their goals... but three people would be a lot.

I wish I could shake the nasty feeling that the show is going to bite off more than it can possibly chew. To mention, right at the end, that Hank's old partner has just been suspended suggests that last week's resolution blew up in some way.

This episode threw so many balls into the air, that I would assume (if this were any other show) that the finale would let a substantial number of them drop.

"To mention, right at the end, that Hank's old partner has just been suspended suggests that last week's resolution blew up in some way."

I just figured it meant that someone high up in the PD chain figured that no one could have such bad luck to have an akli screw-up AND a serial-rapist as partners without being someone dirty themselves. So it was essentially a CYA. I found it kind of refreshing, actually, as opposed to those cop shows (I'm looking at you, L&O:SVU) where police break proceedure all the time and never pay any kind of price.

And, let's face it, we've seen Gustofson(sp) do some really dicey stuff in deference to Hank. That it all seemed to turn out OK in the end might not be good enough for this show. If nothing else, it would lead to follow-up plots in upcoming seasons.

RWG (and, of course, it was a great excuse for the actor not being in this episode :-)

great episode, as usual, but it was a mistake to air it this week...should have held it off for next week.

i say that because, especially after the ratings gain made last week (over 700k and the highest since episode 2), things are going to significantly drop this week. the day before thanksgiving is a ratings disaster zone since so many people are traveling/drinking/going out. no one works tomorrow so its basically like a weekend, i.e. a friday. so, with that, id expect these numbers to be well down from what they were last week.

especially given the thin ice this show is on, if it was even possible, shawn ryan should have tried to avoid this date so he could 2 more chances in december to get the numbers up. now hes got 1. if next week isnt good, like at least close to a million, i cant imagine fx giving them another year.

Yep, since 1988 to be exact, on usenet and fidonet. And this particular screenname (RWGibson13) since about 1992 on GEnie. Usually the RWG thing is easier to pick up on since it's actually RWGibson13, but this system doesn't allow for upper and lower case letters.

That's funny. I was confused at first, too, but then I looked at his user name and figured he was just being pretentious, monogramming his responses. That alone would be fine, a lot of people do that, but the parenthetical remarks afterward negate the signature. Perhaps if you move the parenthetical remarks up a line and then sign it, your messages won't be as muddled.

It reminds me of a book from my childhood starring the character of Lyle the Crocodile; there was a guy in it always sending letters that he signs, "Hector P. Valente (star of stage and screen)." So I like it. So there!

Love the show. Was wondering if the Zeitlin plot is going to be resolved next week or carried over into a, hopefully, second season.

Had the same questions as others about how Zeitlin figured out the meeting was changed to the liquor store. Figured a couple of people were watching; one car followed Hank/Britt, the other stayed at the house and followed Jason/Laura.

Does FX has a website where you can post reactions to their shows. Want to tell them to keep this show around.

Yes, and a more adult, more male, Veronica Mars is a great comparison; though VM's villains were mostly individuals acting only for themselves; this has more of a film noir people in high places manipulating events feel to it. And while VM was a prodigy of a teenage girl, Hank and Britt are anything but; street smart goofs who can't help sabotaging their own careers and personal lives.

On a side note, I really liked how the tone of this episode went from being really scrappy to feeling extraordinarily penultimate-like in the third act. It wasn't at all like the Pelecanos masterpiece in every season of The Wire, but I thought it was more Shield-like in that it set up some badass things to come in the finale (as you so optimistically foreshadow for us).

Yeah, that struck me as an odd-sound pronunciation as well. The other grammar/language gaffe in this one was "PRINCIPLE ARCHITECT" on one of the blueprints. Unless the architect in question had an extraordinary level of integrity, it should have read "PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT".

Yeah, I was wondering if the show was trying to tell us that the speaker was uneducated/pretentious/using fancy words he doesn't understand. But you're saying you think that it's the show itself (producers, director; can't blame the writer) which is in that position? I'm afraid you might be right. Wow. I hadn't caught it in Boardwalk Empire.

Maybe it's because I was tired, ormy cat was bvothering me, or whatever, but I DID NOT see Jason's death coming. I reacted to that in much the same manner as I did when Kate was killed at the end of season 2 of NCIS; pure shock. That aside, all I can say about this episode is Wow; just wow. If FX does not renew this show, it'd be a crime. It's the best thing on TV, hands down.